The recent Opuwo Rural and Katima Mulilo Urban constituency by-elections cost the Electoral Commission of Namibia a whopping N$2.5 million.
This information is contained in the ECN performance assessment and post-election report submitted to parliament on Tuesday.
The electoral body in the report said the grand total for registration of voters and polling process expenditure for Opuwo Rural amounted to N$1.4 million while the grand total for Katima Mulilo stood at N$1.1 million.
Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) candidate Melchizedek Muharukua won the Opuwo Rural constituency by-election while Swapo candidate Kennedy Simasiku won the Katima Mulilo constituency by-election.
The vacancy in the Opuwo constituency occurred following the death of constituency councillor Uaurikua Kakuva late last year due to Covid-19 complications while at Katima Mulilo, the vacancy arose following the passing of councillor John Muchila Mukaya.
According to the report, the commission recruited 111 registration officials for the Opuwo Rural constituency and 31 for the Katima Mulilo while in addition, 157 and 121 polling officials were recruited for Opuwo and Katima Mulilo, respectively.
In an effort to uphold and implement cost-cutting measures, which, according to the commission, includes limiting accommodation expenses, officials selected to facilitate the by-election processes were typically those who reside in the given constituencies.
In the executive summary, ECN chief electoral and referenda officer Theo Mujoro hailed the by-elections in the two constituencies, saying that the commission once again demonstrated its capacity to conduct and execute its mandate by ensuring free, fair credible, transparent and impartial elections.
“We are indeed proud of its contribution towards the continued strengthening of constitutional democracy and democratic electoral process in the country,” Mujoro said.
He said one of the challenges experienced during the by-elections concerned the voter registration kits (VRKs).
He said at times, some VRKs were slow to capture information and others needed to be restarted from time to time, which could be attributed to the hot weather conditions.
“It is important to note that most of the VRKs have been in use since 2014, they may have reached their product lifespan and, therefore, need to be replaced,” he said.
Mujoro said the commission is committed to improving its electoral operations in order to provide only the best experience for voters and as such, will continue to improve and innovate its processes and tools to enhance the electoral process.
– ktjitemisa@nepc.com.na